A few weeks ago I purchased Some V&H slip ons for my 1200 Sportster. After having them on less than two weeks, the rear heat shield welds broke and I lost the heat shield on the road. I immediately called V&H and talked to someone named Cheyne. He said to email him a copy of my invoice and pictures of the slip ons, which I did the same day. I called again the next day to verify the receipt of the email, and talked to someone else who verified with Cheyne they would send out a new heat shield under warranty. I asked the guy how long would it take, and he said they'd send it out 2nd day. It was Friday morning, and he said he wasn't sure if it would go out Friday or Monday. I said no problem, as I figured it would get to me no later than Thursday the following week. Thursday was yesterday, and when it hadn't arrived, I sent an email to Cheyne asking about it. No Reply. I then called in and spoke to someone, who checked with Cheyne and I was told it would be 4-6 weeks before they could ship it out...then it would go 2nd day. I asked why, and was told it had to be manufactured! They supposedly don't stock replacement parts! Later in the day, I called in to talk to a guy who is supposed to be in charge of customer service, named Steve Darrow. I left voice mail for him to call me. I haven't heard a word back yet. This is my first purchase of V&H products. I checked out some forums and have found the same problems with these welds going back more than eight years! I wonder what would happen if it were the muffler itself that had to be replaced...I wouldn't be able to ride my bike for 6 weeks??? This is just unacceptable.

 

I have heard Vance & Hines quality control is going down hill....hope you get this fixed soon.

 

If they cannot replace the heat shield in a reasonable amount of time, I would demand replacement of the entire product. Here is a statement from their web site on warranty:

All of our exhaust systems are warranted against defects in material and/or workmanship for a period of 1 year. This does not cover finishes such as plating, or painted surfaces with discoloration or rust. This warranty shall be limited to the repair or replacement of the system, which may be proven defective under normal use. We will not warranty any system that has been abused, misused, improperly installed, or modified.
Dealers or distributors are not authorized to make dispositions binding upon Vance & Hines. We will not be responsible for any labor charges incurred in removing or replacing any system under warranty. All returns must be accompanied by a return authorization number and a copy of the purchase invoice. Parts being returned without a return authorization may be refused at our receiving docks.

 

UPDATE:
I called the dealer I purchased the slip ons from, Fuel Moto, out of Wisconsin, and talked to Jamie yesterday. He never even hesitated for a second and said he would take care of me and would contact me today... which he did... to tell me he would be sending me out a whole new muffler assembly next week. I told him all I needed was the heat shield, and he said OK as long as that is what I wanted. He actually said, he wouldn't have a problem just sending me out a whole set up, and he would even send me a return shipping label for the old one, but I told him it wasn't necessary. He also said he would take care of dealing with V&H. THAT'S the kind of service I should have got from V&H.

 

Glad to hear you got the exhaust issue resolved...good on FM too.

 

Glad to hear Jamie is taking care of you. IMO, V&H is a joke. At my shop we have run into many problems with their stuff. Everything from shoddy welds to poor fitment to bad/scratched chrome or ceramic coating. I am well aware of their lengthy turnaround time to fix their issues, and I mention this when people order V&H exhaust just in case something happens. What we do at our shop is order a new set of whatever the customer bought to get them squared away as fast as possible, then worry about dealing with V&H. A V&H rep was in the store a few weeks back saying they were creating a whole warranty team to help expedite all the warranty claims. His argument was since they are the biggest exhaust manufacturer they had the most warranty claims. We told them the money would have been better spent on quality control to not have the issues in the first place...

 

You would think that kind of logic should be patently obvious... glad to hear you work at a place that knows how to take care of customers...